The Supreme Court Friday delivered judgements in the cases involving eight governors.
In Kano, the election of Governor Abba Yusuf, which was cancelled by the Court of Appeal and the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, was reversed by the apex court.
Justice John Okoro, who read the lead judgement, said the Court of Appeal was wrong in affirming the decision of the Tribunal, which held that Yusuf did not win the majority of lawful votes cast in the governorship election of March 18, 2023.
In the judgement, Justice Okoro held that the Tribunal was wrong in deducting 165,616 votes accrued to Yusuf in the election on grounds that the ballot papers were not signed and stamped by officials of INEC.
According to him, Section 71 of the Electoral Act relied upon by the Tribunal to deduct the disputed votes does not apply in the instant case.
The Supreme Court Panel of five Justices subsequently restored the deducted 165,616 votes to reinstate the victory of Yusuf in the governorship election.
Justice Okoro observed that contrary to the appellate court, the Tribunal never held that Yusuf was not qualified to contest the poll but that his name was not in the NNPP’s membership register submitted to INEC.
The apex court subsequently set aside the judgements of the two lower courts for being perverse and restored the electoral victory of Abba Yusuf.
Bauchi
Also, the apex courts dismissed the appeal challenging the outcome of the election that produced Bala Mohammed as governor of Bauchi state as it upheld the March 18 gubernatorial polls in the state.
In its lead judgement delivered by Justice Ibrahim Saulawa, it dismissed the appeal by All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Sadique Abubakar, filed to request the nullity of the polls.
The apex court in a unanimous decision of a five-man panel led by Justice Inyang Okoro dismissed the appeal for lacking in merit.
The court held that it found no reason to set aside the judgements of the lower courts and resolved all the issues that were formulated by the Appellants, against them.
Zamfara
Similarly, the Supreme Court upheld the election of Governor Dauda Lawal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the governor of Zamfara state.
While delivering its judgement, the five-member panel of justices held that Lawal, who was the candidate of the PDP, secured the majority of lawful votes and was rightly declared the winner of the gubernatorial election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In the lead judgement delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the apex court set aside the November 16, 2023 judgement of the Court of Appeal, in Abuja, which declared the governorship election that held in the state on March 18, as inconclusive.
Justice Agim described the verdict of the appellate court as “perverse and against the weight of evidence.”
The court, hence, restored the earlier decision of the Zamfara State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which affirmed Lawal’s election victory.
Ebonyi
Likewise, the Supreme Court dismissed two separate appeals seeking to sack Francis Nwifuru of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the governor of Ebonyi state.
The appeals, which were filed by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Ifeanyi Odii, and his counterpart from the All Progressives Grand AllianceA(PGA), Prof. Bernard Odoh, challenged the return of Nwifuru as the valid winner of the March 18 governorship polls in the state.
A five-member panel of the apex court in its lead judgement delivered by Justice Tijjani Abubakar affirmed the March 18 governorship election victory of Governor Nwifuru.
The apex court held that it found no reason to vacate the judgements of the Ebonyi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal, which upheld Nwifuru’s election.
Plateau
Also, the Supreme Court reversed the Appeal Court judgement that sacked Caleb Mutfwang of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as governor of Plateau state.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel of justices, the apex court declared Muftwang as the valid winner of the governorship polls that were held in the state on March 18, 2023.
In the lead judgement that was delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the panel held that the appellate court lacked the jurisdiction to determine the validity or otherwise of the primary election that produced Muftwang as a candidate in the election.
The Supreme Court, held that the appellate court made a fundamental error and the All Progressives Congress (APC and its candidate, Mr. Nentawe Goshwe, lacked the locus standi to challenge Muftwang’s candidacy.
It held that the APC lacked the right to challenge a nomination that was made by another political party and the appeal “a thorough abuse of the court process.”
Lagos
Similarly, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court dismissed the appeals brought before it by the candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abdulazeez Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, against the return of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos state.
In a unanimous decision, the panel led by Justice Inyang Okoro dismissed the two separate appeals that challenged Sanwo-Olu’s March 18 victory for lacking in merit and affirmed the election that declared him winner.
In the lead judgement delivered by Justice Mohammed Garba Lawal, the apex court held that there was no evidence that Sanwo-Olu’s deputy denounced his Nigerian citizenship.
According to the court, “there is no law stripping a Nigerian citizen by birth, from enjoying his status, rights and privileges, owing to the acquisition of the citizenship of another country through naturalisation.”
It, therefore, held that the Appeal Court was right in affirming the judgement of the tribunal that Sanwo-Olu and his deputy were not disqualified from contesting the governorship election.
Cross River
In the same way, the Supreme Court upheld the election of Bassey Otu as the governor of Cross River state.
The apex court affirmed the judgement of the Court of Appeal which affirmed Otu as the winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election in the state.
The appellate court had in November 2023 dismissed the appeal filed by the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sandy Onor, for lack of merit.
Abia
Also, the apex court affirmed the election of Alex Otti as the governor of Abia state.
Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, who read the lead judgement, held that the appellants failed to prove substantial non-compliance in their appeal.
The apex court faulted the appellants for bringing the appeal to the court, tagging it as “frivolous and vexatious.”
